GT Osceola Nevada (Reno Chris)

[Guest goldstudmuffin]

Hello,

Has anyone ever been to the Osceola-Ward region? 1877 ghosttowns. Reno Chris do you have any info on thie area or have you or anyone ever been there? Thanks, Russ

[Uncle Ron]

Also, has anyone ever nugget hunted the Mina, NV, area...Driving through it looks very interesting....Be there nuggety placer there? Cheers, Ron

[Guest Anonymous]

Hello,

Has anyone ever been to the Osceola-Ward region? 1877 ghosttowns. Reno Chris do you have any info on thie area or have you or anyone ever been there? Thanks, Russ

Ward itself is closed and locked. Private property.

[BradM]

Hello,

Has anyone ever been to the Osceola-Ward region? 1877 ghosttowns. Reno Chris do you have any info on thie area or have you or anyone ever been there? Thanks, Russ

Ward itself is closed and locked. Private property.

Sorry this was posted by me. Didn't notice I wasn't logged in.

[Guest guest]

I live in Ely, NV. 30 miles or so from Osceola. Some folks still live in the town and the mine there is still in operation. Run by one person so I hear.

Most of this area is covered with corner claim markers. Have a Minelab and would like to look up there also, but so far having a hard time getting access to any of the area. As was stated, Ward Mt is closed. There is a lot of BLM/National Forest land to explore however.

[wyndham]

First time I got married was by the JP there at Mina back in 1978. The jp was also the assay office(might still be there). Just enough room for the 6 of us to squeeze in. Mina is also the rail head for Foote Mineral's Lithium shipments from Silver Peak(where I used to work) I don't remember any talk about gold around there , could be though.

I think south of Silver Peak on the back road to Lida might be a better spot. I remember alot of strange outcroppings and volcanic material over that way. There is a small scale gold mine between Coaldale and Tonapah near a site that mentions a spring(road marker). I've often thought that Goldfield might be worth checking out. Any way that's what my last 3 brain cells remember about the area, oh if the bar is still there, good cold beer on a hot day. later Ron, Wyndham

[Guest goldstudmuffin]

Thanks for the posts BradM and the Guest from Ely. Does anyone know if the placer diggings at Osceola have ever been detected? I would like to take a trip up there but if you can't get access to any of the old placer diggins or where they hydrauliced for placer it would be a long ride home. :?

Thanks, Russ

Where's Reno Chris? Is this one of your secret spots Chris?

[nuggethunting]

Hello GoldstudMuffins,

Floyd Allen talked about the area several times, and stated there was some very large nuggets found there in the late 1800's. However, he never stated he found anyone of any size with the SD series detectors there.

What do you know about the 53 ouncer? :shock:

Take care,

Rob Allison

[Guest goldstudmuffin]

Hi Rob,

I'm talking about a 300 ouncer!!! :shock: Yes a 25 pound nugget! Are you up for a wild goose chase? Maybe Sabra Jim could guide us.

[Sabra Jim]

Big Hello to the GoldStudmuffin Twins and of course ol' Rob,

In 1998, I took a weeks trip to Osceola and Black Horse, which is

located near the Utah border..

Osceola was kind of dissapointing for me, as the wash which was

Hydrauliced (and the main reason I traveled to the area) had a locked

cable at the entrance and there were folks living down there.. I drove

along the ridge for about two miles, prospecting along the way with

my White's GM4 but much of it was claimed and even though there

were signs of workings I didn't find anything but Rattlesnakes..

It's a large area and the upper reaches of the wash looked to be on

private ranch land, although I may be mistaken (which isn't unusual)

Jim Straight grew up in the area and probably knows it the best. If

he is not busy maybe we could get a truer report of the area...

There is quite a story about the 20 some pound nugget that was

found by a guy working for the claim owners and I have read about

it in at least a couple of publications..

Hope to get with you-all and John B. for a hunt after Thanksgiving,

when I plan to come your way...

Warmest regards,

Sabra Jim

[Digger Bob]

Several years ago I hunted the area with my Goldmaster. We didn't see any one around but there was recent evidence of occupation. I had some information from a local on where to hunt which was around the back side of the mountain, a mile or so away from the main diggings. He had shown me several nice rough pieces he had found with his Goldmaster. I didn't find anything but we got rained out after a day or two so didn't get to explore much. There was some good looking ground aways away and I have since seen a number of new nuggets that have been found there.

But, the main workings are claimed and being worked at present.

There is potential for nice gold in the area but I doubt if you could get permission to hunt the main workings.

Digger Bob

[Guest goldstudmuffin]

Hi Sabra Jim and Digger Bob and all,

Thanks for your replies, anyone want to go back for a hunt?

F. Buchanan and Dick Millick found a nugget worth $1,012 and another worth $1,080. Over 50 ounces a piece.

The hydraulic company claimed one valued at $2,150, If my math is right that's a 107.5 ouncer at $20 an ounce, that nugget was discovered by Dick Conner.

James Marriot cashed one in for $500 (25 ouncer)

Boon Tilford found a giant worth $5,150 (257.5 ounces).

Some Chinese miners found one which they cut up a little at a time, netting a total of $960. (Just under 50 ouncer?)

Others worth $250 and $365 were found below bedrock.

The placers were located between _____ Gulch and _____ Gulch. Uncovered here was almost two million dollars worth of gold, including a nugget weighing 24 pounds which would be worth almost a quarter million dollars at today's prices found by Charles Keisel lying buried in the gravel of _____Gulch, too little water made large scale operations impossible.

Looking forward to when you make it down here Jim! I wish I had a Nevada placer book! :? If one of you guys plan a trip to Osceola please give us an invite!

Kind Regards, Russ

[Reno Chris]

Russ & all :

Sorry I didn't respond sooner, I've been out of town in Seattle, WA for a few days.

Russ:

I've only been up to Osceola once myself. I do know that Osceola has been detected, I know of a guy named Art Meechum who lives in Ely, who owns a minelab - I think its an SD. He currently detects there regularly. He posts occaisionally on some of the forums, and has done well in places up there. In the lower parts of the gulches, much of the placer is real deep - like 50 or more feet deep - some of the area was hydraulic mined, but other places were drift mined where the bedrock was real deep. Also, as you have heard from the other posters, there is a real access problem there as there are a lot of claims up there and they cover a wide area, much more than just the main diggings. The placers extend farther than is specified in the old reports, but its the folks who have put in the hours, done the exploring and paid their dues who know exactly where to hunt. Its a 5+ hour drive from Reno, which explains why I have not been there much.

An inexpensive and detailed Nevada placer book is the Maureen Johnson Nevada placers book.

Uncle Ron:

The Mina area has been detected - I know of a couple places. Probably the best known place produces fine wiry mesh type gold - stuff that responds better to a VLF than a PI. Plus several of the most popular places are mine dumps and dumps are usually real trashy, also another reason why a VLF might be prefered.

Chris

[Guest goldstudmuffin]

[dutch john]

Howdy All... this link was just brought to my attention by a "non poster."

As a youngster back in the 1930's I spent time in Osceola. Boone Tilford

and my step-grand father... William Ransom "Dragline" Miller... were

involved in early placer mining. Grandpa Miller was one of the dragline

operators. It is said that he could cast out and get "drag" farther than

the other operators.

Boone built a very nice log cabin in the "Hogum" area. He and his family

lived in it till about 1935... It continued to be a nice place to stay in.

However, in the 1970's it was destroyed...

Art Meecham lived in Ely. He recently passed away. He was quite a bit

younger than me, as I remember, in his 50's. And the fringe areas have

likely been well detected. Both with VLF's and PI's.

Sabra Jim... I remember some nice nuggets that "Dragline" found

back in the 1930's. I hope all is well... "Tailgate" Jim Straight

PS: Gosh this is an example that old posts are still out there... Sorta

down "memory lane." Thanks everyone for sharing old memories. I

was in Ely over the 4th of July... my 60th highschool class reunion.

Great time... great memories... and I did some exploring of out of

way places on my return trip... found a 1868 Shield nickel while

doing a little detecting around an old "station" site. Not valuable

but a great find...

[Dakota Slim]

Hi Jim, I am shocked to hear that Art Meecham died. I hunted with Art and his father Jerry a few times.

I met Bob (last name escapes me), the owner of the Dry Gulch claims and his wife. Bob is a great guy. He used to work the placers at Hogum and he said that he had never refused to let anyone metal detect on his claims. He also said you have to get to bedrock and that is the problem with most of that area. The bedrock is deep. Osceola was (and is) the longest running placer operation in NV and there is plenty of trash to prove it. It is a great place to be in the summer because of the elevation but by this time (mid to late September) you can expect freezing temperatures at night and snow.

[Reno Chris]

I am also sad to hear that Art passed away. He was a good guy.

Chris

[dutch john]

Reno Chris... I didn't want to make a "boo-boo" about Art, so

earlier before making this post I checked with a couple of

friends about Art... I understand he passed away early this

Spring and may have been only in his 40's.

Since you are associate editor for the ICMJ; maybe you

can access an article written about 10 (?) years ago regarding

the "Boone Tilford Log Cabin" as it has a photo of the cabin

and the story of the early days of the "Hogum" as documented

by Boone's grandson, Dave.

I stayed seveal times in the cabin back in the 1930's as

a youngster. Boone Tilford and William "Dragline" Miller

were old friends in Osceola.

My dad also knew both Boone's sons, Lane and Les... They

all three joined the service and are WW-1 veterans. Les and

my dad remained old friends up to the time my dad passed

away. "Dragline" married my grandmother in 1943.

He lived a long and active life... he put on "badger fights"

for about 50 years. He passed away in June 1954.

During the depression, Dragline, Les, Tom McCormac, and

my family would join in a "common operation" and do

some placer mining. I "helped" by dragging sagebrush used to

dry the material (if too wet) before drywashing.

After WW-2, things changed... "Relic Hunters" appeared...

The log cabin was slowly destroyed.... The utensils, furniture,

tools, and even the parts of the cabin were carted off

piece by piece as a relic... By about 1970 the cabin was

almost gone...

It is Dave, Boone's grandson who over the years still wishes

a scale model of the cabin will be built at the Museum in Ely.

The cabin was very impressive. It was a showplace. The best.

[sidebar: Reno Chris; Tom McCormac (spelling) was a

prospector/miner at what is now "Area 51." Back about

1915-1917 the Groom range was a mining area... ]

[Xterra Bob]

There seems to be something strange about the passing of Art in early spring. If he passed away in early spring, and if his username on nugget shooter is nvgoldhound, then it shows he last logged onto the forum on 27th August 2008 - 04:15 PM.

[dutch john]

X-terra Bob.... Thanks for the PM heads up... And also for posting on this thread.

I was reluctant to call Art's phone number to verify with the family.

I called Gerald (Jerry) who set me "straight." It was one of Jerry's sons.

Not Art. Jerry was just a kid when I graduated from high school in '48. (I knew

Jerry's dad back when he took over the trucking business from the Curto's)

Jerry told me that Art is deer hunting today. All is fine with Art. I apologise to all,

especially Art for my mixup. And I'm also sad for Gerald who lost his son so

early in life... Gloria and I have lost both our boys; and I know how it is for Art

to lose a brother. My kid brother, Tom, died many years ago... just barely 50.

[Xterra Bob]

X-terra Bob.... Thanks for the PM heads up... And also for posting on this thread.

I was reluctant to call Art's phone number to verify with the family.

I called Gerald (Jerry) who set me "straight." It was one of Jerry's sons.

Not Art. Jerry was just a kid when I graduated from high school in '48. (I knew

Jerry's dad back when he took over the trucking business from the Curto's)

Jerry told me that Art is deer hunting today. All is fine with Art. I apologise to all,

especially Art for my mixup. And I'm also sad for Gerald who lost his son so

early in life... Gloria and I have lost both our boys; and I know how it is for Art

to lose a brother. My kid brother, Tom, died many years ago... just barely 50.

Thanks for the update dutch John.

[Guest goldstudmuffin]

Jim, here's an article on Nevada's largest gold nugget from a 1971 Frontier Times or True West magazine can't remember which one it was.

[Dakota Slim]

Thanks for updating us on the Meecham family Jim. Art, I'm happy to hear that you are still around and I'm sorry to hear about your brother.

[dutch john]

goldstudmuffin... Effie Read.... small world. Three of her boys; Bill, Gerald, and

Stanton, are old classmates of mine. Her articles are very informative and as

accurate as possible. Both Bill and Stanton are now gone. However Gerald is very

active and a well known musician. At the last minute he was unable to attend our

recent (1948) 60th H S class reunion...

X-terra Bob... Are you any relation to the X-terra 70?

Dakota Slim... I have never met Art. But all of the Meecham family are into

mining and prospecting...

All... Does anyone who is posting or visiting this thread live in the "Ely District?"

The "great depression" hit the area in the Spring of 1933. The copper mines shut

down. Many left the area to go elsewhere. However, the Ely District was also a gold

mining district. The devaluation of the dollar which "bumped" gold to $35/troy in 1934

helped the district. Placer in Osceola and hardrock in Lane City.

[montana]

Russ. I'll add what I know although most of the info provided above seems pretty accurate . It would be very frustrating for someone unfamiliar with the area to go in there . If you could get ahold of Art , it would be very helpful. He's a great guy who would drop what he's doing to help you out. I've been there several times and came away empty handed . It appeared to me that without being in one of the draglined pits , it would be difficult to find any gold, but on the other hand I also talked to the fellow who found a nice patch on "the other side of the mountain" Which would take in several hundred thousand acres. He lives in Ely but I can't recall his name. I drove through Ely the other day coming back from Montana and it was already getting pretty chilly .----Bob